Babel by R.F. Kuang – Review

Published: August 23, 2022

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Series: N/A

Genre: Fantasy, Historical

Pages: 560 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.

Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.

Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?

Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire.

“That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.”

Holy hell, what a book! So, I had high hopes for this but I’ve also had bad luck recently with another book I thought I would love, so I tempered my hopes a bit. Fortunately, this was everything I could have wanted and more. So much more.

In the heart of Oxford, there is a tower they call Babel. It’s the heart of the empire’s translation and silver-working magic, which has made them powerful beyond compare, crushing countries with less wealth and less silver-working power beneath their heels. The British empire consumes, and the Royal Institute of Translation spirits away children with the gift of languages from other countries to further the endless consumption of empire. One such child is Robin Swift (not his given name), who was taken to England by Professor Lovell when his family in Canton died from a fever that nearly took him as well. In England he’s brought up with no goal other than succeeding at Babel. His life would be considered idyllic if one could forget a dead family, could excuse the beatings, and disregard the constant reminders that should he fail, he is worthless.

When Robin finally makes his way to the Royal Institute of Translation, he joins a small cohort of new first year students. He immediately finds near brotherhood with Ramy, a young man from India who shares the strangeness of an upbringing outside his homeland. Then there’s Victoire and Letty, which is notable during a time when women weren’t often allowed in the halls of scholarship. Victoire is a black woman, born in Haiti but raised in France. Letty is a lovely English girl who is at Babel despite her father’s wishes and because of her brother’s failure. At first it’s easy to love this compelling cast of characters, but as the story goes along you begin to see that all is not picture perfect in this scholarly cohort. The influence of the Hermes Society, a secret group dedicated to funneling silver, knowledge, and supplies away from Babel, certainly makes Robin’s life tense at times.

It’s truly fascinating and at times heartbreaking to see these characters age and become wise to the world around them. And for Victoire, Robin, and Ramy to truly see what they are supporting and enabling when they work for the British Empire. Without their knowledge and skills, the empire wouldn’t have quite the hold over the world around them. And then to see Letty remain this idealistic girl, certain that her beloved Britain is more civilized and right than these other countries is quite heartbreaking. You can watch their friendships become more unstable as time progresses. The ending! Oh, what an ending R.F. Kuang wrote for this book! It will shatter your foundations as it shook the foundations of the British Empire.

This was truly a masterpiece, blending academia and revolution beautifully together. Babel will most certainly make it onto my Best Books of 2022 list and I’m really glad I splurged on two different special editions to add to my shelves. The synopsis sums up the themes and major questions broached in this book perfectly, so there’s no need for me to repeat them. I highly recommend this, particularly to those folks who can’t get enough of the dark academia theme and to those who like a scholarly bent to their fantasy.